Kid's workout videos

[Jetta]

I need help. My daughter is 9 so she's not a kiddie kid and she's not a teenager but my brother suggested I get her more active at our house since she's been putting on weight lately. My fault I let her watch cartoons forever and take her swimming once during the weekend and then for ice cream. I needed something inexpensive to do to get her more active at home so videos were his suggestion.

 

Th one I'm strongly considering has no reviews. The other has good reviews but I'm not sure if it's really a good fit for a 9 year old. What do you think. I also plan on doing it with her but of course I want it to appeal to her level of intellect and ability. However we're at an in between stage, so it's tough.

 

Video A link removed

 

Video B link removed

[Moontiger]

I would NOT use a workout video of a child. Instead make healthy life style changes such as only 1 hour of TV a day, must play outside when the weather is nice, bike rides, healthier foods.

 

You will get some push back from her but in the long run it will teach her how to live a healthy life.

[turnera]

Why can't you just find things to do together that gets her moving? Walk the dog...talk a walk together (great way to improve communication and, at her age, becoming more and more vital)...learn tennis together...get roller skates for both of you...get a sled, since you're in Minnesota...

 

What kids want more than anything - even if they don't know it, especially if they've been raised on tv, computer games, and Internet to replace the time they should have been spending with their parents/siblings - is just TIME TOGETHER. Time with you so she knows she's your first priority, you want her around you, and she makes you happy - these are essential at her age, as she starts wondering her worth in the world.

 

Find a way to carve out one hour a day that's just the two of you, and make sure that time is spent on your FEET, not your butts. That's all it will take.

 

And please consider finding her a sport that she likes. Girls 10-17 who are in a sport are exponentially less likely to have sex early, take drugs, drop out of school, become a bully...the list goes on and on. Plus, there aren't that many female athletes, so scholarships to college for that sport are practically a given.

 

And finally, you admit that you let her watch cartoons so I'll just ask it...why? You're the parent; set the rules. Growing up, my DD21 was allowed 30 minutes a day of tv and 30 minutes a day of computer or video games during school days. On weekends, that doubled. But that was it. She knew the rule, she didn't complain - she just went and found other things to do, like kids are supposed to. She learned to love reading. She got into art. She got into skateboarding and tennis. She went and hung out with other kids. And she loved playing piano. Oh, and of course I had rules about buying her stuff, but I told her I would never say no to a book. So she got lots of books, lol. By the time she was in high school, she was buying workbooks cos they were fun to her, lol. But the bottom line is she filled her life with lots of things and didn't let tv or computers consume her life. Just set a time limit.

[turnera]

Moontiger makes a good point. I, too, made DD21 go outside and play. She had to figure out what to do sometimes, but that's good too - let her use her brain instead of a tv or computer doing it for her. Once, in high school, a bunch of her friends were over for New Years and they were being loud and the adults couldn't hear themselves talk, so I told them all to go outside (Houston, so it was 75 degrees on New Years); they looked at me like I was crazy. "What are we supposed to do outside?" I said, I don't care; you'll figure it out. They ended up having a blast.

[anya1607307555]

What about joining a Zumba class together? I haven't tried it but practically everyone I meet rates it, including young people.

[Nearbot]

I think the number one thing is to lead by example. Start going on walks and making her come with you. Like someone above said, rollerskating and bicycling would be great too. Stop buying junk food and always have cut-up fresh fruit and carrots available to eat. Instead of taking her out for ice cream, make healthy smoothies together for dessert.

 

She's not going to want to do exercise videos over and over. I think you two need to make a lifestyle change together.

[turnera]

Plus, shoving an exercise video at her just says 'you disappoint me and you're fat and I want a different you.' Never works.

 

I was about 30 pounds overweight going into high school, from a couple of years of doing nothing but watching tv. I met a new girl, and we started walking EVERYWHERE. We'd walk 15 miles to get to the mall. And I lost 30 pounds in a year just by walking.

[bulletproof]

It seems weird to have her watch more t.v. to lose weight, even if it is an exercise video. Why don't you take her for a walk somewhere? That doesn't cost any money.

[Seraphim]

Children need 60 minutes of exercise every single day to remain healthy. At nine she should be out playing . I know I was raised in a different time, but we were outside ALL day in the summer from almost sun up to sun down. Even in the winter we were outside every day.We also did not get a drive ANY place you had to walk. I think exercise videos for kids just promotes more TV watching and tells them they are fat. All they need to is to go outside and play with friends and play sports like soccer and baseball and dance and skate and swim and all the things kids should do. My mom and step dad also took us out to walk the dogs every single day for an hour or more and three times a week we did a family run. She is not doing enough exercise for what she eats if she is overweight.

 

However before kids have a growth spurt they tend to put on a few pounds so they can have that growth spurt.Before my son went into his teenage spurt he gained a few pounds which was intensely unusual for him. As it turns out this year he grew 7 inches so he needed a tiny bit of body fat for his growth spurt. He is now as string bean as he always was.

 

Take her to a dr and determine if she is staring a growth spurt or actually overweight. Even so she needs active exercise every single day. It will keep her healthy physically and emotionally and mentally.

[Mesemene]

I'm going to take a perspective on this that outside playing, for some reason, may not be practical. I know at least one of the apartment complexes I lived in, we had a "yard" the size of a postage stamp, outside the yard wasn't safe (major road not far from the house, right behind it, and I didn't trust some of the people there after living there a while) and there was no park or area that didn't involve crossing the road to play in. That meant even at 7 and 8, I couldn't send my stepsons out to play - I had to be able to take them somewhere, which, between work hours for me, school hours for them, and necessary household errands, just left very very little time to go much of anywhere.

 

From the little information available - I'd say the fitkids video, Jetta. Looks more age-appropriate. And if she has a friend and you're in a similar situation as far as that normal outside play not being readily available - maybe make it a playdate, have a friend or two over to dance/exercise with her, or do it with her when you are available so it's not just her and a tape.

 

And maybe see if there's a community center nearby that offers afterschool activity hours - I know the YMCA here offered an afterschool program that included sports and swimming and karate, and it was pretty darn affordable.

[Princess123]

Is she interested in playing sports or ballet or anything active? Getting her on some sort of team could help greatly! But you would also have to watch what she eats... I don't think work out videos could keep a nine year old attentions span very long... it also insinuates that she is putting on a few...

[thejigsup]

I had a friend once who married a man with two overweight children. She laid the law down and ALL the kids, hers and his, had to do a sport, and she chose soccer for them. Some of them loved it and some of them hated it, but they all HAD to do it. They all got fit and after the weight was lost, even the kids who had hated soccer thanked her for caring. They are all slenderk, healthy, people now who learned good exercise habits because of soccer. Put you daughter in a highly aerobic sport like soccer or basketball.

The pounds will melt off if you also restrict sugar and junk foods.

[Snny]

I was also going to suggest getting your child into a sport or some sort of physical exercise where she can meet new people. Could be dancing, martial arts, horseback riding (you WILL lose weight with the riding styles you have to perform) or team sports (Soccer is REALLY good). Youth sports would really improve your child's self esteem and social skills.

 

As for Zumba... I have done it for over year and I have never seen children or even teenagers in my classes though it is open for all ages. Some high schools have their own Zumba clubs though. It is mainly women in their 30's+ doing it, so it might not be "age appropriate" for her to make friends in like a youth sport. My Zumba classes run for an hour and they are DRAINING if you are not fit.

[Jetta]

She is active is soccer and dance. She lives with her dad who is naturally thin and doesn't pay attention to diet or my concerns with her diet. When I have her I wanted to find something free to do that gets us both moving more. I have a sled for winter, a bike for summer, I take her swimming at an indoor pool, I'm teaching her to roller blade on the concrete in the garage since I live where there are no sidewalks. I mentioned walks to my brother he didn't think she'd enjoy that as much. So I thought a video might be a nice thing to add. I did try dancing around to music but she generally watches me and feels foolish so I thought that seeing other kids might pursuade her to bounce around more.

[greywolf]

She might be too old for this, but does she like singing? My mom used to buy these sing a long/dance a long videos for my sister and me when we were young.

[agent1607307371]

I mentioned walks to my brother he didn't think she'd enjoy that as much.

 

Have you asked your daughter what she wants to do? If she's active in soccer and dance, then maybe find a local club/group for her to join when she's with you.

 

If she's normally active though, it sounds like you need to look more at her diet, rather than more exercise.

[turnera]

The soccer and dance, are they each once a week? That won't have much effect. The federal agency that handles this stuff just came out with a report this year that says kids need to have one half to one full hour of exercise every single day to stay on par with their weight.

[Blackey]

It would be a GREAT idea to sign her up for some dancing classes, it would contribute to her physical health as well as mental health greatly.

Consider it....